Medieval Mills Report 2012-14 with Gazetteer
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MEDIEVAL AND EARLY POST-MEDIEVAL MILLS A THREAT-RELATED ASSESSMENT 2012-14 The ruins of an old windmill (PRN 3528) near Carew, Pembrokeshire Prepared by Dyfed Archaeological Trust For Cadw DYFED ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST DAT Event Record No. 102665 Report No. 2014/7 Cadw Project No. DAT 105 March 2014 MEDIEVAL AND EARLY POST-MEDIEVAL MILLS A THREAT-RELATED ASSESSMENT 2012-14 Gan / By MIKE INGS The copyright of this report is held by Cadw and Dyfed Archaeological Trust Ltd. The maps are based on Ordnance Survey mapping provided by the National Assembly for Wales with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, Crown Copyright. All rights reserved. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown Copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings. License No.: 100017916 (2014). Historic mapping reproduced here is covered under Crown Copyright and Landmark Information Group. All rights reserved. Dyfed Archaeological Trust Ltd. On behalf of Welsh Government 2014. Ymddiriedolaeth Archaeolegol Dyfed Cyf Dyfed Archaeological Trust Limited Neuadd y Sir, Stryd Caerfyrddin, Llandeilo, Sir The Shire Hall, Carmarthen Street, Llandeilo, Gaerfyrddin SA19 6AF Carmarthenshire SA19 6AF Ffon: Ymholiadau Cyffredinol 01558 823121 Tel: General Enquiries 01558 823121 Adran Rheoli Treftadaeth 01558 823131 Heritage Management Section 01558 823131 Ffacs: 01558 823133 Fax: 01558 823133 Ebost: [email protected] Email: [email protected] Gwefan: www.archaeolegdyfed.org.uk Website: www.dyfedarchaeology.org.uk The Trust is both a Limited Company (No. 1198990) and a Registered Charity (No. 504616) CADEIRYDD CHAIRMAN: Prof. B C BURNHAM CYFARWYDDWR DIRECTOR: K MURPHY BA MIFA CADEIRYDD CHAIRMAN: Prof. B C BURNHAM CYFARWYDDWR DIRECTOR: K MURPHY BA MIFA MEDIEVAL AND EARLY POST-MEDIEVAL MILLS: A THREAT-RELATED ASSESSMENT 2012-14 SUMMARY 2 INTRODUCTION 4 PROJECT AIMS AND OBJECTIVES 5 METHODOLOGY 6 RESULTS 7 REFERENCES 10 GAZETTEER 1 MEDIEVAL AND EARLY POST-MEDIEVAL MILLS: A THREAT-RELATED ASSESSMENT 2012-14 SUMMARY The medieval and post-medieval mills project forms an element of the Cadw grant-aided medieval and post-medieval threat related assessment project. A desk-based scoping project aimed to identify all the medieval and early post-medieval water-power and mill sites on the Historic Environment Record (HER), providing an indication of total numbers, numbers of sites represented by documents or place-names and which sites are scheduled. The initial primary sorting exercise identified a list of 888 possible mill sites and 594 potential water-management sites. It was noted that the vast majority of the sites on the HER were recorded as ‘Mill’, with no indication of its function or source of power. It was also clear that dating these mills was problematic as, although the building may be recorded as 19th century, the site may have much older, possibly medieval, origins and elements of this earlier phase may survive. The number of water-management sites may be inflated by multiple records pertaining to the same complex. Also, many of the recorded leats reservoirs, dams etc may not be associated with mills but with metal mines and similar sites. The preliminary project sought to cut the number to include only those that may have the potential to be scheduled, filtering out any that had effectively been destroyed or where the mill building survived, either as a working mill or converted, but nothing or little of the ancillary features such as leats and ponds remain. The total number of sites was reduced from some 1500 to 572. It was estimated that of these 572 sites there were approximately 250 individual mill sites requiring further investigation. Additional sites were added during the course of the project, resulting in 260 sites identified worthy of further investigation. Dossiers on these 260 sites were prepared, with a view to visiting 150-200 of them across the three counties of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. An interim report (Report number 2013/28) was produced in April 2013 that covered the mill sites assessed and visited within Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion during 2012-13. Sites in Pembrokeshire, together with several more in Carmarthenshire, were visited in 2013-14. This report now includes all sites assessed and visited during the survey. 189 sites have been visited. Of these, 114 were near destroyed or ruinous. 56 were near intact, restored and/or converted and the remainder were either damaged (8), not found (4) or seen to be cottages or dwellings rather than mills (7). Scheduling and listing recommendations have been sent to Cadw, together with details of sites that would benefit from further survey. 2 3 INTRODUCTION In 2010, Dyfed Archaeological Trust undertook a Cadw grant-aided scoping study of medieval and post-medieval sites and landscapes (Davis 2010), part of a pan-Wales project (undertaken by all four Welsh Archaeological Trusts). The aim of the study was to identify all medieval and post-medieval sites recorded on the HER that have not been the subject of a previous threat-related assessment and to categorise them by site type. ‘Mill’ and ‘Water power’ were two of the site types identified.. The primary sorting exercise identified the following site types within the HER: Mill (458) Mill Race(67) Windmill (23) Leat (260) Windmill/Mill (1) Leat/Ditch (7) Water Mill (147) Mill Pond (26) Fulling Mill/Corn Mill (10) Aqueduct (37) Corn Mill (132) Mill Race/ Mill Pond (1) Woollen Mill/Corn Mill (3) Mill Race/ Mill Pond/ Leat (1) Saw Mill/Corn Mill (3) Water Wheel (4) Woollen Mill/Fulling Mill(3) Waterwheel (5) Woollen Mill/Mill (1) Water Channel (25) Flour Mill (1) Pond/dam (1) Saw Mill (32) Weir (12) Mill/Dwelling (2) Reservoir/ Dam (3) Mill/Cottage (2) Reservoir (66) Dam (30) Pond (49) Due to the large number of mill sites it was decided, during the secondary sorting exercise, to analyse a sample of 20 using the HER and secondary sources to gain an overall impression of the available information. This sample highlighted the problem with dating the construction and use of these sites. It was also noted that, although many mills have been converted, a number of archaeological features may still be preserved including water-management complexes and original machinery. The quality of the sources in the HER was found to be mixed, with the majority of sampled sites having no or only one recorded source. Records held at the RCAHMW, particularly the work by Tony Parkinson, and on their Coflein website were very useful for additional information. Acting on the results of the scoping study, the Trust applied to Cadw for grant-aid to undertake a threat-related assessment of Mill sites in southwest Wales (Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire). This application was successful and the project, including fieldwork, was undertaken in 2012-14. 4 PROJECT AIMS AND OBJECTIVES The main aim of this project is to use the HER, National Monument Record, secondary sources and field visits to assess the potential for enhancing the schedule of ancient monuments with medieval or early post-medieval mill sites. The overall project’s aims are: • An application of definition, classification, quantification and distribution of these sites in Wales. • Assessment of the archaeological significance of mills in both a regional and national perspective. • Assessment of the vulnerability of this element of the archaeological resource, review of scheduling, and recommendations for future management strategies. • Enhancement of the regional HER and Extended National Database. The project’s objectives are: • To identify all mills which require further assessment; • To collate existing documentary evidence for the sites; • To carry out a field assessment of those sites where necessary; • To incorporate all the information into a database and enhance the Dyfed HER; and • To advise Cadw on those sites which are of national value and currently without statutory protection. 5 METHODOLOGY The scoping study collated a list of sites that could potentially require a desk-top appraisal and possible field visit. This ‘snapshot’ of the data held within the Dyfed HER was filtered to accept all ‘Mill’ and ‘Water power’ sites of medieval and post-medieval date; and all sites of unknown date. The resulting record was further filtered to remove sites that: Are effectively destroyed Survive as complete buildings, either working mills or converted, but nothing or little of ancillary features, such as leats and ponds, remain. Comprise only a surviving leat Sites that possessed the following criteria, ranked in potential importance, were included: Mill building reduced to an earthwork/ruin and site now abandoned with no evidence of post-abandonment re-use. Mill building reduced to a ruin or disused with no extensive modern development close by (ie, large agricultural buildings), and an ancillary feature such as a leat or pond survive, or have the potential to survive. Mill building in use (either as a mill or converted) but a range of ancillary features such as leats and ponds survive, or have the potential to survive. Using the above criteria all mill sites, possible mill sites, leats, water wheels etc. were assessed. The total number of sites was reduced from some 1500 to 572. This included site types ‘Water Mill’ (147 sites) and ‘Fulling Mill (58 sites), both of which are mainly only known through documentary evidence (mostly medieval) and there precise locations are unknown. It is likely that many of these sites are duplicates of other site types for which more accurate geographic data is available. In addition, many mill sites include more than one record, incorporating the building, race, pond etc, indicating that the number of individual mill sites is approximately 250. The desktop appraisal collated all the available information on each site as held in the Dyfed Archaeological Trust Historic Environment Record (HER). This included reference to the 1st and 2nd edition Ordnance Survey maps, tithe maps, SAM and Listed Building records, Ordnance Survey record cards, Royal Commission inventories and archived reports.